December 3, 2011 – Climate Connections -- Around 12,000 people from South Africa and around the world hit the
streets of Durban, South Africa, to protest the UN Climate Conference of
Polluters on December 3.

Photo: Petermann/GJEP-GFC.

Photo: Langelle/GJEP.

Photo: Petermann/GJEP-GFC.

Photo: Langelle/GJEP.

Photo: Langelle/GJEP.

Photo: Langelle/GJEP.

Photo: Petermann/GJEP-GFC.

La Via Campesina Photo: Langelle/GJEP.

Radical clowns. Photo: Petermann/GJEP-GFC.

Friends of the Earth's Nnimmo Bassey speaks to the crowd. Photo: Petermann/GJEP-GFC.

December 2: 1000 march for climate justice

December 2, 2011 -- Occupy COP17 -- Today ambassadors for small island states addressed the Occupy COP17
general assembly. We heard from Ronny Jumeau from Seychelles, Dessima
Williams from Grenada and Marlene Moses from Nauru. These islands are
among those most at risk from rising sea levels. A 2 degrees Celsius rise in
global temperature, which is almost certain if the current course of the
talks is followed, would lead to their homes and traditional cultures
being buried by the ocean. Their impassioned pleas were for people to
mobilise and make sure that those within the COP17 got a clear message
that delay is not an option, and that strong and decisive action to
reduce emissions needs to happen now!

With song and dance, hundreds of people from the Rural Womens
Assembly arrived at Speakers' Corner for a rally. They were then joined
by hundreds more from One Million Climate Jobs, and then everyone took
to the streets, signing, dancing and chanting for climate justice.

This was a taster for what will happen here tomorrow, when the global day of action march takes place in Durban [see photo essay above] and around the world. 20,000
people are expected to make their voices heard, going right past the ICC where
delegates will not be able to ignore the calls of the people.

We cannot and will not be silent in the face of the suicide pact
being sanctioned by rich nations and imposed on the entire planet.

We demand an end to market based solutions to climate change, and
instead call for just and equitable solutions that include immediate and
binding emissions reductions and for developed nations to pay their
historical climate debt.

Small Island States join Occupy COP17 to say 'we are all one and the same'

Ambassadors from the Small Island States joined the Occupy COP17 movement.

By Tierney Smith, Durban

December 2, 2011 -- RTCC -- “We are all one and the same”, said Ronald Jumeau, ambassador
to the UN for the Seychelles, when he joined the Occupy COP17 movement
on December 2.

Jameau joined ambassador Dessima Williams from Grenada and ambassador
Marlene Moses from Nauru and the African Rural Women’s Assembly.

This follows a call from the Alliance of Small Island States on December 1 urging a new legally binding commitment to be ready by the
end of 2012, when they Kyoto Protocol runs out – a call which has been opposed by the majority of developed countries, which are looking at a timetable of up to 2015 or 2020.

But ambassador Moses was resolute speaking to the crowds; countries
like Nauru and Grenada and the entire African continent cannot wait
until the end of the decade for such a deal.

“I come from a region, where by the end of the century the low-lying
atolls will be submerged as sea levels rise”, she said. “There will be
hundreds of storm surges, droughts, our food security will be
compromised, our water security, our survivability. So we thank each and every one of you here today for being our
conscience. And we will continue to be your voice in those halls and in
the negotiating room. We represent the people of our countries and
that’s each and every one of you here today. Thank you for your
steadfastness, your faithfulness and for your conviction that ensures we
do our job properly for the people.”

The Occupy COP17 movement has been building up slowly over the first
week of the conference. Now with several more banners and a plot filled
with guerrilla gardens, the group is now bedded in ahead of the arrival
of ministers and heads of state.

The African Rural Women's Assembly also joined the group.

And today saw the general assembly grow in numbers as the African
Rural Women’s Assembly joined the group, adding their voice to the
protest for climate justice.

Jameau stressed the need for this co-operation in his speech to
crowds, when he remarked on the similarities of what countries in Africa
and island countries face as the effects of climate change worsen.

“I want to send a message to the city of Durban. We have heard from
the islands – from the Caribbean, from the Pacific and I come from the
Indian Ocean. The same message applies to the poor city of Durban”, he
said. “I live on the beachfront and from what I see from my hotel
window when the storm surges come to cover our island they will cover
the low-lying parts of Durban.”

“The conference in Durban cannot condemn us without condemning
itself. So our message is the message of all the people of Durban –
during COP17 you are all small islanders. So don’t save us, save
yourselves. We are one and the same.”